Good rainy Wednesday morning, dear readers! Thanks so much for all the love on Facebook and Pinterest last night! I thought my beer chicken recipe needed a serious revisit, and it seems I was right! Make Ahead Meals for Busy Hairstylists got pinned over 100 times after I left that little linky on my Facebook page. Sadly, that post was written back in my “Doh..I don’t know how to make it printable” days. I’ll try to remedy that with an update!

Ok, down to business. Do you’s guys remember when I went to teach Pooh’s Girls Scout troop a simple sewing lesson? I lugged my Singer, the iron, and a borrowed ironing board to the school and we set up shop in the library and made cute little fabric bookmarks. Well, when you volunteer for stuff like that, word gets around. Next thing you know, I was asked to give Tigger’s troop a sewing lesson, as well (I’m fibbing again, I totally offered).

Here was my dilemma: My Emdeko sewing machine is entirely too heavy for me to lug anywhere, and the Singer had been sitting there collecting dust with a vital piece detached from it ever since I taught Pooh’s troop to sew (I broke it, not them). I needed a different kind of sewing project this time, and we all know I cannot sew by hand (I have a tendency to sew things to my clothing…the clothing I am wearing at the time). I had to come up with another way to give a sewing lesson, and fortunately unfortunately for Tigger’s troop, I had a bright idea! Girl Scouts and cross stitch…it was the perfect plan! It was something I loved doing as a child, and my girls had recently been introduced to it, thanks to the clearance section in the Walmart craft department.

We picked up two little cross stitch kits there over Christmas break, and Madre, the girls and I spent an afternoon working on them.

My girls seemed to really enjoy it, so I decided to go back and grab some more for Tigger’s Girl Scout lesson! With that 75-cent price tag, I couldn’t go wrong.

Tigger’s troop is small, so I felt like we could really get some progress made in their hour time slot. To help us along, I separated all the thread by color, and into strands of 2, ahead of time. I wanted them to work on their sewing project, not spend the whole hour getting organized.

Tigger brought her cat she’d been working on since Christmas break, just to show the girls that a cute image does emerge over time. It’s hard to picture a finished piece when you’re faced with a blank, white piece of fabric.

I laid the kits out face down, just to prevent any bickering over a certain pattern, and made them choose blindly (these girls are so sweet, I doubt we’d have had an issue, but I needed all of the hour to make this happen). I brought sandwich baggies for them to take their works-in-progress home, and a pencil for each girl to shade in their completed sections on the pattern. See how well I planned?

After they consumed their fill of pizza and Cheetohs, and then scrubbed off the grease and the cheebil (that’s the stuff that stays on your fingers after eating Cheetohs), we got down to business.

Let me tell you…teaching five little girls how to cross stitch is challenging! Just a few minutes in, and I was wishing I had brought Madre for backup. If it weren’t for Tigger, I’m sure a few of the girls would have just given up and found something else to do. Bless Tigger’s heart, she’s so patient and seems to have a gift for teaching. By the time the hour was up, Tigger hadn’t even begun (since she was busy doing my job), at least 2 of them had their project in knots, and one girl announced “I’ll never do this again, so you can just take mine home with you, Tigger’s Mom.” Epic fail? Maybe not…

At least three of them seemed to enjoy it, and seemed to get it. And if any of them did not, I take complete responsibility for that. Even if it didn’t work out perfectly, I really think the girls had fun trying something new, and I actually had a blast attempting to teach them.

Cross stitch was something that my whole family enjoyed back in the 80’s, a decade when it’s popularity was through the roof. Even my brothers cross stitched a few Christmas ornaments over the years. I love the look of finished cross stitch pieces, and we have several decorating our home.

Grandma makes one of these for Coach every time Alabama wins a National Championship. She stays busy..RTR!

These adorn my bathroom wall. Madre made them years ago, and I love them.

In hindsight, I should have brought some of these to show the troop. I have lots of ideas in hindsight.

I have a few of these cute little projects left over, and I’m thinking I might pick one up myself and finish it.

It’s been a long time since I practiced (there’s that hindsight again…might have been a good idea to practice before the Girl Scout meeting). It really amazes me, even to this day, how sewing little x’s can make art. That’s how I described it to the girls; it’s like painting a picture with thread. If I can still manage one of these cute little guys, maybe I can try my hand at some more elaborate “grown-up” pieces.

Speaking of, have you ever visited the blog Posie Gets Cozy? I’ve shared it here before since it’s a favorite of mine. She actually designs her own cross stitch patterns, and sells them in her web shop (look under embroidery kits). She only has a few, but she has lots of other beautiful stuff in her shop, and I’m just crazy about her work.

Anywho, lessons learned. I think Girl Scouts and cross stitch do mix pretty well, and I’m glad I got the opportunity to share something with Tigger’s troop. I’m just making mental notes about better planning, just in case I ever do get asked to work with them again. I’d say that’s a big “if”.

I’d also like to give a shout out to both of my daughters’ Girl Scout Troop Leaders. That is not an easy job, and we appreciate you for all that you do to keep these troops going! {Both of the these ladies work hard and are raising their own families, but always come through with monthly meetings, service activities, cookie sales, and more…including just fun day trips or camping trips for the girls.} Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Karla, we love you to pieces! Girl Scouts has been a very important part of Pooh and Tigger’s lives, and it could not have been without your dedication and hard work. Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!

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4 Comments

Aunt AnneFebruary 24, 2016 @ 8:11 am

I’m delighted to read a shout out for the Girl Scouts, since just a couple of days ago I read that the Catholic Archbishop of somewhere, I think St.Louis, wants them boycotted for teaching sex education. I doubt that all troops do that anyway, and personally I think it’s a good idea, since most parents are shy about talking to their own kids about sex. But what got people coming down on him hard was his saying no one should buy Girl Scout cookies. Some things are sacred!

Martie~A Hair In My Biscuit

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